Supercharge your summer sales – strategies for 2023

Summer isn’t just a time for sipping Pimms – it also presents a valuable opportunity for boosting your sales. There’s something about rising temperatures and light summer nights that makes people want to splash the cash.

Unfortunately, you won’t be the only business that knows this. So, in a world of seasonal sales and holiday giveaways, we’ve got 5 ways to make your summer marketing strategy stand out from the crowd.

That’s so last season – why you need to update your marketing strategy

The sun's out, the birds are chirping, and the only thing on everyone’s mind is chilling out on the beach– so don’t pour your budget into your scarf and mitten department.

Different seasons affect sales in different ways. Christmas is the most obvious example, with sales increasing throughout November and December, while January tends to see customers tighten their purse strings.

If you don’t update your strategy accordingly, your marketing efforts could look a little tired and irrelevant. Plus, you could miss out on vital opportunities to market your product or service to a new, engaged audience.

How to boost your sales for summer

Good news – you don’t have to reinvent the wheel for your summer sales. There are a few tried and tested techniques to give your business a fun new image.

1. Create some seasonal promotions

Even if ‘treat yourself’ is the mantra for the summer season, your audience won’t part with their cash for nothing. It may take a little encouragement to turn potential customers into regulars. Summer promotions, like discount codes, freebies with larger orders, or limited-time partnerships with other businesses, keep things fresh. It’s also a great way to boost summer-specific products that don’t get much love throughout the rest of the year (think sun cream and swimwear).

To maximise your chances of success, do your research before launching:

Look at your profit margins to determine how much you can afford to give away
Keep an eye on your competitors to make sure you aren’t running similar promotions
Decide whether to promote your deals through organic or paid media

Just because everyone's clocked off for the holidays, doesn’t mean you can neglect your social channels. In fact, with more people waiting at airports, posting their holiday snaps, and generally spending less time at their desks, it’s important to focus your marketing efforts where you’re most likely to engage your audience.

Make the most of social media by interacting with potential customers in real-time. If you run a business that sells barbecues, launch a photo contest where users compete for the best BBQ spread. Not only will this flood your Instagram with user-generated content, but it’ll also create a buzz for your product and build a positive brand image that fosters customer loyalty. And more importantly, it might even give you some ideas for what to put on the grill yourself.

3. Optimise your web copy and design

Your website is one of the first touch-points that most customers will interact with, so it needs to reflect your current offerings. It could be pretty jarring if you’re promoting a Valentine’s Day deal in mid-July.

This might mean refreshing your landing page copy to direct traffic to the summer sale or updating imagery to help your audience feel more like they’re sunbathing on the beach and less like they’re sitting in front of a screen. But don’t get too carried away with seasonal edits. It’s just as important to optimise your site for everyday use with quickly loading pages, a streamlined checkout process, and mobile viewing.

4. Take advantage of email marketing

As people spend time away from their desks, the last thing anyone wants to come back to is a full inbox. But as a business owner or marketer, emails are a valuable tool. So, while you definitely should communicate with customers directly, don’t cross the line into spam.

Consider crafting fewer, more focused email marketing campaigns for the summer months that promote relevant products and deals. Pique your audience’s interest with engaging headlines and emojis to avoid ending up in the trash. And monitor metrics to make sure your messages aren’t falling on deaf ears.

5. Don’t forget back-to-school

After a hard push on your marketing strategy for a few months, you might be tempted to let things drop off by the end of August. But you’d be missing out on another key date – back to school.

Turn your summer offers into more relevant promotions for the new school year, whether that’s targeting parents, teachers, or students themselves. That barbecue business which thrived during the summer months could start a new campaign that focuses on sharing easy, family-friendly recipes thrown together after the school rush.

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